The July Column () is a
monumental column in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
commemorating the
Revolution of 1830. It stands in the center of the
Place de la Bastille and celebrates the — the 'three glorious' days of 27–29 July 1830 that saw the fall of
Charles X, King of France, and the commencement of the
July Monarchy
The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...
of
Louis-Philippe, King of the French. It was built between 1835 and 1840.
History
A first project for one commemorative column, one that would commemorate the
Fall of the Bastille, had been envisaged in 1792, and a foundation stone was laid, 14 July 1792; but the project never got further than that. The circular basin in which its
socle stands was realised during the
Empire
An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...
as part of the
Elephant of the Bastille, a fountain with an elephant in its centre. The elephant was completed to designs by
Percier and Fontaine in semi-permanent stucco, but the permanent bronze sculpture was never commissioned due to pinched finances in the latter days of the Empire. Its low base has been retained to support the socle of the column.
The monument, in an elaboration of a
Corinthian column, was designed by the architect
Jean-Antoine Alavoine, following a commission from Louis-Philippe: the Place de la Bastille was officially selected as the site on 9 March 1831, and the Citizen-King placed a first stone on 28 July 1831, the anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power; a hymn with words by
Victor Hugo
Victor-Marie Hugo, vicomte Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romanticism, Romantic author, poet, essayist, playwright, journalist, human rights activist and politician.
His most famous works are the novels ''The Hunchbac ...
and music by
Ferdinand Hérold was sung at the
Panthéon on the occasion. The ''Colonne de Juillet'' was constructed by Alavoine's partner in the project,
Joseph-Louis Duc. It was inaugurated 28 July 1840. Music composed for the occasion was
Hector Berlioz' ''
Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale'', which was performed in the open air under the direction of Berlioz himself, leading the procession of musicians which ended at the Place de la Bastille.
Jean-Pierre Montagny issued commemorative medals on the occasion.
In the foundation, a
columbarium was arranged to receive the remains of 615 victims of the July Revolution. A further 200 victims of the
Revolution of 1848 were later interred in the space; the throne of Louis-Philippe was symbolically burned in the square, in July 1848.
Description
The ''Colonne de Juillet'' is composed of twenty-one cast bronze drums, weighing over ; it is high, containing an interior spiral staircase, and rests on a base of white marble ornamented with bronze bas-reliefs, of which the lion by
Antoine-Louis Barye is the most noted. The
roosters at the corners are also by Barye. The
column is engraved in
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
with the names of those who died during the July 1830 revolution. Over the Corinthian capital is a gallery wide, surmounted with a gilded globe, on which stands a colossal gilded figure,
Augustin's ''Génie de la Liberté'' (the "Spirit of Freedom"). Perched on one foot in the manner of
Giambologna's ''Mercury'', the star-crowned nude brandishes the torch of civilisation and the remains of his broken chains. Formerly, the figure also appeared on French ten-
franc coins.
Gustave Flaubert, in ''
Sentimental Education'', compares the statue to a large golden star shining in the east.
[Flaubert, ''L'éducation sentimentale,'' Gallimard, Paris, 1965 p.84]
See also
*
Berlin Victory Column
*
Congress Column
*
Nelson's Column
*
Washington Monument (Baltimore)
References
External links
Official website
Génie de la Liberté
{{Webarchive, url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20110628054016/http://community.webshots.com/photo/521237726/1521367708041169831iQEDXa , date=2011-06-28 ( Webshots user photo - links to bigger version)
Buildings and structures completed in 1840
Monuments and memorials in Paris
Place de la Bastille
Monumental columns in France
Terminating vistas in Paris
1840 sculptures
Bronze sculptures in Paris
Statues in France
19th-century architecture in France
Outdoor sculptures in Paris